The New Mexico State Aggies finished their final season in the Sun Belt Conference with a record of 6-24 straight up, which included a league mark of 1-14, good for a last place finish in the Sun Belt West Division for a dreadful exit.
Against the college basketball gambling lines, the Aggies fared little better as they went 7-18 against the board, getting the cash in just one of their final seven games.
The Aggies were misplaced in the Sun Belt, which is more of a Southeastern type of league geographically. New Mexico State would enter the Western Athletic Conference for 2005-06 and play rivals closer to home. They would also need to kick up their game a notch, as the WAC was a better basketball league.
The poor season of 2004-05 coupled with the change in conferences meant that the Aggies would be a difficult read for gamblers, certainly early but perhaps all season as they would have to try and gage just where the Aggies fit in with the rest of the teams in the WAC.
Respectable start
New Mexico State opened the 2005-06 season with a 70-83 loss/cover at UCLA as 18-point dogs. That was then followed by a pair of unlined games starting with an 83-51 home win over Western New Mexico and then a 77-78 overtime loss to Sam Houston State.
Back on the board at home against Texas El Paso, the Aggies scored a 55-64 loss as 5-point dogs. That was then followed by a fantastic and encouraging 67-61 win over hated intra-state rival New Mexico as 5.5-point dogs. The Aggies then suffered from a letdown as they lost at San Francisco 64-74 as 8.5-point dogs.
New Mexico State then got back on track with a 78-63 neutral court win over Chicago State as 3-point dogs, which was then followed by a 68-71 overtime loss/cover at New Mexico in the intra-state rematch as 12-point dogs. The Aggies were off to a respectable start of 4-2 against the college basketball board.
Brief dip
New Mexico State then suffered a brief dip against the board beginning with a 67-80 loss at Texas El Paso as 9.5-point dogs. That was then followed by an unlined 74-72 home win over Texas-San Antonio. Next came a 63-69 home loss to Texas Tech as 3.5-point dogs followed by a 62-52 win at Idaho as 2.5-point chalks. That was followed by a 63-73 loss at Boise State as 5.5-point dogs for a third loss ATS in four games.
Cranking cash
New Mexico State’s break from profits didn’t last long, however, as starting with a 73-70 home win over Fresno State as 2-point chalks they began ranking cash.
Hawaii visited next and the Aggies scored an 87-84 win as 1.5-point dogs. That was followed by a 61-66 loss/cover as 9.5-point dogs as Louisiana Tech. Next came a 72-75 loss at Fresno State as 7.5-point dogs as the Aggies were retaining their board value. They next scored an 81-75 overtime win at San Jose State as 1-point dogs, which was then followed by a 93-86 home win over Utah State as 6-point dogs for a sixth consecutive payoff.
Out of value
The Aggies excellent mark against the board didn’t go unnoticed by gamblers, which caused New Mexico State to run out of value down the stretch, beginning with an 81-90 loss to Nevada as 3.5-point dogs. That was then followed by an 83-77 win at Utah State as 13.5-point dogs. The Aggies were unable to sustain momentum however, as they got a home win/push over Boise State, a win/cover at Pacific, and then a 66-61 win over San Jose State that they failed to cover as 10-point chalks. The Aggies then finished the regular season strong going 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS and then went 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS in the WAC tourney.